Insurance enrollment in Florida under Obamacare more than doubled in March to reach 983,775, federal officials disclosed on Thursday.
Nearly a third, 31 percent, are under age 35, a sign that younger and healthier patients joined the rush to get insurance, a major goal of the Obama administration.
Some 91 percent received financial assistance to pay for their plans, such as tax credits to reduce the price of premiums.
Officials also announced that an additional 223,056 Floridians signed up for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program during the enrollment period from October to March.
“More than 983,775 Floridians signed up through the marketplace, demonstrating brisk demand for quality, affordable coverage,” Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, said when releasing the numbers.
Florida’s enrollment increased by 123 percent in March, capping a campaign that started badly with computer glitches and ended strong.
The late surge reflected an aggressive push by health-care activists in Florida to reach out to the uninsured and encourage individuals to sign up despite opposition to the new law by Gov.Rick Scott and the Republican-run Legislature.
Florida, where one in five residents was uninsured as of last year, had the second highest number of enrollees behind California.
“Florida was amazing,” said John Foley, who led the enrollment campaign for the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County. “The fact that we would come in as an absolute number 2 behind California? Pretty amazing. Clearly there were a lot of uninsured in Florida who were very, very happy with this.”
Nearly a million Floridians enroll in Obamacare plans – Sun Sentinel.
